World War II Munitions, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: The Way Marine Life Thrives on Discarded Armaments

In the slightly salty waters off the Germany's shoreline lies a graveyard of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and naval mines. Dumped from boats at the conclusion of the World War II and forgotten about, countless explosives have fused into clusters over the years. They comprise a corroding layer on the low-depth, silty seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the wartime weapons was ignored and forgotten about. A increasing amount of tourists traveled to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for water sports, kite surfing and amusement parks. Beneath the surface, the weapons decayed.

We initially thought to see a desert, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, says a scientist.

When the initial researchers went looking to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, researchers anticipated finding a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, explains the lead researcher.

What they found surprised them. Vedenin recalls his team members exclaiming in amazement when the underwater vehicle first sent the images back. This was a memorable occasion, he says.

Numerous of marine animals had made their homes among the weapons, developing a regenerated marine community denser than the sea floor nearby.

This ocean community was proof to the resilience of marine life. Truly remarkable how much life we find in locations that are supposed to be dangerous and harmful, he states.

In excess of 40 starfish had clustered on to one exposed fragment of explosive material. They were dwelling on iron containers, detonator compartments and transport cases just centimetres from its dangerous content. Marine fish, crabs, sea anemones and mussels were all observed on the discarded explosives. You could compare it with a marine reef in terms of the abundance of creatures that was present, says Vedenin.

Surprising Population Density

An mean of more than forty thousand creatures were residing on every square metre of the munitions, scientists reported in their study on the discovery. The adjacent region was much sparser, with only 8,000 individuals on every meter squared.

It is surprising that items that are meant to kill everything are hosting so much marine organisms, states Vedenin. One can observe how nature adapts after a catastrophic event such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, life finds its way to the most risky places.

Man-made Structures as Marine Habitats

Man-made features such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and pipelines can offer alternatives, replacing some of the removed habitat. This research shows that weapons could be equally advantageous – the explosion of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be found elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6m tonnes of munitions were dumped off the Germany's coast. Thousands of people transported them in barges; a portion were dropped in allocated locations, others just dumped during transport. This is the first time researchers have studied how ocean organisms has responded.

Worldwide Examples of Ocean Adaptation

• In the US, retired oil and gas structures have transformed into marine habitats
• Shipwrecks from the World War I have become homes for marine life along the Potomac in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to coral off Asan in Guam

These places become even more crucial for organisms as the marine environments are increasingly denuded by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Sunken ships and weapons dump sites effectively function as refuges – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is restricted, explains Vedenin. Consequently a numerous of organisms that are usually uncommon or diminishing, such as the cod fish, are prospering.

Coming Factors

Anywhere warfare has happened in the past 100 years, nearby oceans are typically containing munitions, explains Vedenin. Many millions of tons of dangerous substances rest in our marine environments.

The locations of these weapons are poorly mapped, in part because of international boundaries, classified armed forces records and the reality that documents are buried in historical records. They present an detonation and security hazard, as well as risk from the persistent release of hazardous substances.

As Germany and other countries begin extracting these remains, researchers aim to preserve the marine communities that have established in their vicinity. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are currently being cleared.

It would be wise to substitute these iron structures left from munitions with certain safer, various non-dangerous materials, like possibly artificial reefs, says Vedenin.

He presently wishes that what happens in Lübeck establishes a model for substituting material after weapon clearance in other locations – because even the most harmful explosives can become foundation for ocean ecosystems.